There was an institution that presided over the study of the yin-yang/five elements theory that had its outset in China, the subsequent studies that came forth from it, such as the study of the heavenly bodies and of the calendar, divination, and religious rituals.
That institution was the Bureau of Onmyou, and the people who belonged to it were called "Onmyouji", which later came to refer to anyone who used such techniques to perform sorcery and other magical arts.
The yin-yang/five elements theory is a combination of the yin-yang theory, which describes natural phenomena as the interaction of two principles, yin and yang, and the five elements theory, which interprets all things through the relationships among the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
The Bureau of Onmyou, headed by an Onmyou-no-kami (Director of Onmyou), already existed in the mid-7th century as a government institution under the Ministry of Central Affairs, and it seems that many onmyouji were involved in research on the theory of yin-yang/five elements.
Initially, the Bureau of Onmyou was a research institute, but as time went by, it began to adopt and administer the Jugondou (lit. the way of vanquishing spells) and other magical arts imported from China, and gradually began to display its mystical side.
It is believed that Shigetake-no-Kawahito, a mid-9th century onmyouji, systematically compiled and laid the foundation for this onmyoudou system.
He is said to have written many instruction manuals and to have achieved great success in divination and prophecy.
Furthermore, in the 10th century, outstanding onmyouji such as Kamo-no-Tadayuki, Kamo-no-Yasunori, and Abe-no-Seimei emerged, and thereafter onmyouji was passed down from generation to generation by the Abe and Kamo clans.
Legend has it that onmyouji used astronomy and divination, made many predictions, and performed ritualistic ceremonies to exorcise impurities, but on the other hand, they would also intervene with the powers that be, use sorcery and evil, or even divine, spirits called shikigami, waging a war of wickedness through curses.
Shikigami are servant deities controlled by onmyouji and are said to have originally been the twelve divine generals and thirty-six birds of prey utilized in divination. Onmyouji manipulated shikigami at will to change their appearance into birds or humans by possessing dolls, paper, grass, and such, it is also said that they could be made to protect people or even have them cursed to death.
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